Metal Storm
by Matt Coates
Summary: Drawn into a battle against the Iron Warriors, one of the dreaded Traitor Legions, Shinji and Asuka find themselves up against something far older... and far more dangerous...
1. Foreword

_During the 14__th__ Crusade, we came across several traps, planned by Abaddon's Lieutenants in an attempt to remove the main threat to his war; our own Evangelions and their loyal pilots._

_Despite many attempts, none were successful, human spirit and faith in Him easily overcoming the corrupt abominable imitations that the Eye of Terror had spat out._

_One of the most dangerous traps, that came closer to destroying the Evangelions, and ending all hope for the Imperium's survival, was oddly enough_ not _plotted by some spawn of Chaos, but a malign entity older then even the blasphemous 'Powers' of Chaos themselves…_

From _The Weapons of the Past; An Account of the Final Crusade and the Role of the Evangelion _by Inquisitor Lord Thorne, written 027 M42


	2. Prologue

**Metal Storm****  
**

**Prologue**

_Earth_

_2016_

Keele sat in the soothing darkness, watching the hologram through narrowed eyes as the figure of Unit 01 rose into the ruins of Tokyo-3, just in time to witness the broken remains of Unit 02 hit the ground. A slow smile started to form as he watched the MP-Evas draw the purple war-machine unknowingly into the dance of the Red Earth ceremony.

"Well played Ikari," he muttered, leaning back. "Well played. But you always had the loosing hand. And you were wrong. Your death, and the death of us all with bring about a rebirth so beautiful that you could never imagine it.

"What is it you people say? Don't count your chickens before they've hatched?"

"What the?" Keele gasped, spinning in shock at the unexpected voice. He blinked in surprise at the figure of his butler. "Amano? What are you doing here, I left strict instructions with you and the rest of the staff that…"

"Oh, do be quiet, there's a good doll," Amano interrupted, idly waving a hand. Keele's eyes bulged in shock as his implants all froze, bright red warning signs superimposing themselves over his vision.

"It seems," Amano mused, studying Keele absently as he stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the hologram, "that you did rather well. Seele came very close to achieving their goals, which were, of course, really _my_ goals."

Amano paused at Keele's faint grunt of complaint.

"Oh please," he said, sneering. "Did you really think you arrogant old fools managed to gain so much power purely on your own merits? No, nearly a full third of SEELE's operatives were actually me, in suitable, ah, 'disguises'. You see, I'm very good at_deceiving_ people. And I used my skills to support your goals because I knew that, with the right _push_, your goals would become mine.

"And it nearly worked. Instrumentality was so close… I could almost taste it…" He shrugged, and started to stride back and forth, taking on the air of a professor sadly pointing out the mistakes in a students work.

"Unfortunately, you really should have been more _proactive_. You knew that Ikari had Lilith, that he had Adam and you did nothing. You didn't take any real steps in securing the loyalty of that little science experiment of his. A few seconds ago, he tried to combine Rei, Lilith and Adam to start and control 3rd Impact."

Keele blinked in shock, about the only action he found he could do.

"He failed though, it seems that his little pet was less obedient then he expected. She has started and is in control of 3rd Impact right now, as we…as _I_ speak. Your failed precursor to the last 'angel' appears to plan on convincing her to _not_ break apart everyone's AT fields. Instead, she will probably choose to punish you and your people for your arrogance.

"Ah well," Amano sighed and shrugged. "I'll just have to try again at some later date." He glanced back over at Keele. "There is, of course, the question of how I should punish your failure. I suppose I could simply leave; Lilith will probably punish you well enough. However… For all the effort I put in on your behalf, I feel I deserve some kind of reward…"

The man Keele had always dismissed as nothing more then a butler, a lackey casually reached out both hands and cradled his frozen head.

A few seconds later, Lilith turned her attention from the JSSDF troops to him, and his body collapsed from the metal skeleton of his implants into an orange-red puddle.

It was pointless though.

His soul was already gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harbinger_-class transport _Warrior's Chariot

_5 348 999 M41_

"…so I'll see you in a few minutes, right after the Warp jump," Thorne concluded.

"We'll be…" Shinji began, and froze. "…when is the Warp jump?"

"Thirty seconds or so, why?"

"Pilot Soryuu is… indisposed," Shinji replied, putting a heavy tone on the last word.

"…Ah," Thorne replied. "Well, we'll reschedule in thirty minutes then. You know what to do pilot Ikari. And, good luck."

Shinji released the vox's transmit rune as he felt the familiar mental lurch as the aging transport jumped into the semi-real and flinched, a spike of fear shooting straight down his spine in an instinctive reaction evolved from a time before humans had stopped fooling around in trees.

It wasn't the feeling of jumping into the immaterium; all the time spent on the_Warrior's Chariot_ moving from one war zone to another had allowed him to view the events with a certain calm. No, it was the sudden shriek of female rage from the room's attached ensuite that had him suddenly wishing for a gun, armor and, for preference, close-air support.

"THAT'S THE FIFTH DAMN TIME!" Asuka snarled, stomping out of the tiny bathroom and slamming the door behind her. Shinji hesitantly opened his mouth.

"Don't say a word, Ikari," Asuka growled, fists clenched. "I'm not angry at you, but all it'll take is one wrong word, and you'll regret it!"

"I was just going to say," Shinji began carefully, forcing his voice completely toneless, "that Thorne just summoned us to a meeting." Quickly, seeing the familiar spark rising in her eyes, Shinji continued; "When I explained that you were indisposed, however, he said the meeting could easily be delayed for half an hour or so if you wanted to head down to the shooting gallery of some practise…"

Asuka glared at him for a second, and then visibly forced herself to tone it down from 'strip-flesh-from-bones' to merely 'severely-annoyed'.

"Fine," she muttered, her voice under tight-control. "I'll see you in half an hour then.

As the door hissed shut behind her, Shinji sighed slightly in relief. Asuka may have matured considerably in the considerable length of time since 3rd Impact had been averted, but there were some things that could be guarantied to set her off. Walking to a nearby wall closet, Shinji reached in and grabbed a few cleaning supplies. And a mop.


	3. Chapter 1

'Metal Storm'

Evangelion and any associated characters are the property of GAINAX.

Warhammer 40,000 and any associated characters are the property of Games Workshop.

**RahXepon;** This is a comment that I have been considering myself. The main problem is that this crossover series was intended to be a two-part story; Reborn Warriors and Final Crusade. After several people commented on whether there would be any other major races included, I decided to write a side-story or two. These side-stories were intended to be no more then two or three chapters, but have grown beyond my expectations. Unfortunately, folding these two side-stories into Final Crusade would be difficult. Not to say that your suggestion doesn't have merit; once both of these side stories are finished, I might have a look ad fitting the story into a single whole. No promises though.

Oh, and thank you for your review; constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Nick2951; Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Rose1948; **It sounds like you may be a new comer to my stories, so welcome! As I said above, this is a side story to my main story line (available from my profile). After 3rd Impact was aborted (thanks to the young GEoM) Asuka and Shinji were bought to the 41st millennium and the 14th Dark Crusade, to fight Abaddons new weapons; daemon-possessed Evangelion clones. And if you think that sounds strange for our perspective, imagine how it seems to _them_!

**GaleBread;** Well, people ask and I supply. Considering that this _is_ the Deceiver we are talking about, however, don't expect the Necrons to be present right from the start. They'll come though, promise.

I'm sorry it's been so long since I last posted a chapter; Writer's Block is a killer. I intend to write up the next chapter of BoL next, which I will try to get done in a couple of weeks (_try_, of course, being the word).

As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers will be lobotomised and sent to the Necramunda mines.

--

**Metal Storm**

**Chapter 1**

_Iron Warrior Field Fortress_

_Vangor_

Warsmith Honsou studied the projected image, the half technological, half sorcerous image (somehow managing to be both unnaturally sharp and disturbingly distorted) easily displaying the disposition of the Iron Warrior forces, the Imperium's resistance and the environment surrounding the two forces before the brooding Warsmith.

"The front lines?" he finally growled, turning to the image of the Dreadnaught-entombed Grendal, his siege hammer flexing in repressed frustration.

-+-IT GOES WELL-+- came the electronic reply. -+-THE FIRST TWO PARALLELS ARE IN PLACE, AND THE SLAVE-SCUM ARE DIGGING OUT THE THIRD AS WE SPEAK-+-

"We're deploying a constant artillery barrage," Grendal's aide, a nameless, corrupted enginseer now as much daemon as machine, added while dripping machine-drool (which vanished off the edge of the image before it reached the floor), "but the Void shield the fortress is projecting seems to be holding."

"Had I wanted your slave's opinion," Honsou growled, glaring at Grendal's glowing optic strip, "I would have had it tortured out of him. Your willingness to serve and your loyalty gained you control of Berossus' body and his cohort. Don't make me reconsider."

-+-OF COURSE, WARSMITH-+- Grendal replied, daemon fog billowing from the battle suit's seams. -+-I WILL SUITABLY… DISCIPLINE IT LATER-+-

Honsou frowned for a second, before turning the blue gaze of his artificial eye away from the hulking war machine and towards one of the more normal holograms orbiting the tactical display.

"The mining attempts, Lieutenant Yathon? I cannot imagine that even the Corpse-emperor's cannon fodder couldn't figure out a way to counteract such moves, but…"

"Tunnelling operations have begun," Yathon's hologram replied, "but initial scans indicate that the walls extend at least 100 meters down, and are riddled with counter-tunnel corridors. We could breach them eventually, but a more conventual assault would likely be faster."

"What of the reports I've been hearing from the flank Mitrage?" Honsou asked, turning his attention towards another officer. "I would hate to think that your forces are not capable of handling the weakling swarm that makes up the False Corpse God's 'flock'."

"The damned Guard slipped a tank squad into the city," Lieutenant Mitrage replied, bristling angrily, "and they've been supporting the Arbite-scum in harrying our flank. The firezone we established has been holding nicely though, and any damage from long-range fire is minimal."

"And yet you suffered over twenty casualties. This is unacceptable, especially against unaltered, Corpse-emperor worshipping humans."

"Wait just a min…" Mitrage began angrily.

"Uryan," Honsou said flatly.

Mitrage stopped dead and gasped in pain. With a faint hum a sword, crackling with energy, neatly parted the lieutenant's breastplate neatly through the chaos star on the breast. In silence, the marine slid down and hit the ground, shuddering slightly as the power armour's energy reserves faded away.

Uryan stepped out of the darkness. Eternally silent, the mysterious warrior was the Warsmith's enforcer, communicating with his equally silent squad with a language of subtle gestures. Uniquely among the Iron warriors present, his armour was not mainly burnished metal, but a dull black highlighted with the more traditional metal. In fact, many of the icons on the armour were actually Imperial; the armour had once belonged to a renegade loyalist marine by the name of Vaanes who Honsou had forced to train the new recruits he had made with his captured stash of Imperial geneseed.

"Some people," Honsou began climbing to his feet, "seem to think because I am a half-breed, I am weak." He reached down, grabbing Mitrage's corpse. "They seem to think that, because I listen to my warriors instead of simply ordering them about, I am willing to overlook weakness." With a roar, he threw the body with all the strength in his infamous augamentic arm, several of the pistons and wires fracturing under the strain. Mitrage's armour shattered on impact, his body rupturing under the force of the blow and splattering blood in all directions. "I AM THE WARSMITH! AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE THE WEAKNESS OF FLESH!" He turned, glaring at the assembled warriors and gestured at one of the marines near the back. "You. Take control of this…thing's cohort. Hold the flank against the city. Silence any attempt by the Imperials to attack our lines there. And if you wish to survive the week, lose none of your warriors. Now, go."

Honsou returned to his throne and collapsed into it as the chamber emptied. He glanced up as Uryan walked over, reading his silent query with a glance.

"Our…silent allies?" Honsou asked, turning his gaze downwards and watching with a mix of pleasure and revulsion as the cracked augamentic arm flowed like a liquid, the cracks fading beneath the surface. "They will arrive soon, when the time is right. Nothing needs to be said of them, yet."

--

Harbinger_-class transport_ Warrior's Chariot

_The Warp_

The faint murmur filling the Conference chamber faded as the hatch opened, and resumed at a slightly louder level as the red haired figure of Unit 02's pilot stepped in. Nobody had forgotten what happened to the last person who had made an insensitive comment during the last time there had been an unhappy coincidence with a Warp Jump. Admittedly, said person had been a Tech-priest, and his pelvis had been replaced with an augamentic implant long ago, but it had been a valuable lesson in _not_ incurring the 'Red Devil's' anger.

As Asuka sat down in the spare seat, Shinji slid a slice of sweetberry pie in front of her; after hearing that she would be delayed, Thorne decided to make the meeting a working meal and the food had been sufficiently good to keep complaints to a minimum.

As Asuka started with the delicate business of dissecting the pastry, Thorne set down his recaf mug and stood up.

"All right then," he said, the background noise fading quickly. "I'm sure you've all got a good idea what this is about; the Emperor called, and we obey, through the Warp and far away." There was a dutiful round of chuckles at the poor, often-told joke.

"Seriously; Command's identified a Chaos assault in a nearby system, on the planet Vangor. It's a fairly large force, under the command of one of the Traitor legions. Our data's a little out of date; but we do know that they've secured the main spaceport on the outskirts of the city, and began moving to secure the surrounding area. Oddly, they haven't tried to take the entire city, they simply took control of the nearest suburban zones, set up a parameter with fortifications, and levelled a twenty meter fire zone outside their territory. Aside from the occasional slave-raid, they've completely ignored the civilians, which I'm sure we're all thankful for.

"The good news is that they seem to be settling down for a prolonged siege rather then simply advancing towards the nearby fortress and it's attached spaceport. The bad news is that they've been identified as Iron Warriors. For those unfamiliar with the nomenclature of the Chaos Astartes, that means that they are highly proficient siege specialists, almost on par with our own Imperial Fists Chapter. Essentially; they've done this kind of thing a hundred times before."

"Excuse me," Asuka interrupted politely, "but do we know if there's any sign of Evangelions present?"

"Good question," Thorne nodded, "and yes, there are confirmed sightings of at least one Eva-type unit. Interestingly, they don't seem to be going with the normal tactic of smash their way in, drop off an Eva and trigger a miniature 3rd Impact."

+A TRAP?+ Orgenati asked, tapping a mechendrite against his mug of something that looked a lot like machine oil in thought.

"Very probably," Thorne nodded, "but with only a couple or so Evas left in the Warmaster's forces, this could be a vital step in gaining military superiority, at least with respect to Evangelion type war-machines. If, as we suspect, there's some kind of bottleneck in Abaddon's supply line, then we could gain a vital advantage, especially since our Evangelions are superior to the arch-enemies Titans. We're not going to blindly step into this, however; Command has assigned us large elements of Battlefleet Gothic as Naval support, several Imperial Guard regiments, and the Brotherhood of Ultramar Chapter responded to our request by assigning two battle-companies of Astartes as support.

"How far is it?" adapt Farvarth of the Administratum asked.

"About five days Warp travel, give or take. We were lucky to catch a good energy wave heading in the right direction, which trimmed nearly a full week off our initial estimates."

"What's the plan when we arrive?" Shinji asked, "an orbital drop or…?"

"We'll have to wait and see what has changed when we arrive, but the main plan is a full assault. Princeps Ackerman, General Anthony and Brother-Captain Granius hammered out a basic stratagem. Essentially, we'll land at the Imperial Guard fortress and then launch an armoured assault with a Titan spearhead directly into the Iron Warriors' lines. The Astartes intend to remain in orbit initially, and then support the advance via drop-pod assaults against heavy resistance. With the Voids of the Titans, we should be able to advance with minimal casualties and punch a hole into them. As for the Evas," Thorne turned to face the two pilots, "you will support the assault wave, but your primary mission will be to hunt down all of the Evangelions that the Iron Warriors deploy."

"I mean that," Thorne continued, studying the two pilots carefully, "if you have to abandon the assault and let people die, you _will_ take out those Evas, _Shinji_."

"I couldn't let them die," Shinji muttered, dropping his gaze to the table, well aware of the early mission Thorne was referring to, and his actions during it.

"I can commend you for that," Thorne replied, before catching Shinji's eye with a steely gaze, "but the fact remains that it almost cost us. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the fact remains that we could have lost Tolcham II if it hadn't been for Asuka's quick thinking."

"Anyway," Thorne said, after a suitable period of silence. "That's the tactical situation. As for the rest of it… Magos Orgenati? What is the status of the Evangelions?"

+FUNCTIONAL+ the Tech-priest replied, glancing at a data-slate in a mechendrite +THERE IS STILL A LITTLE DAMAGE FROM THE TYRANIDS ON LORONCIS TO REGENERATE, BUT…+

To be continued…

--

**Vangor;** A civilised world in the Segmentum Obscurus. Once a homeworld of a Space Marine Chapter, but after the chapter was declared excommunicate traitorus 3 centuries ago, a large Imperial Guard garrison was placed on the planet to watch the population for taint.

**Warsmith Honsou;** One of the few Warsmiths of the Iron Warrior's Legion, Honsou's rise to power has been controversial due to the fact that due to the corruptive nature of Chaos, Honsou and other marines of his generation were created with only some of the Astartes organs of Iron Warrior geneseed while the other organs are of captured Imperial origin (Imperial Fist origin in Honsou's case). Despite this, Honsou's success in combat has allowed him to rise quickly through the Legion's ranks, and his actions during the capture of the only Adaptus Mechanicus geneseed storage facility off Mars propelled him to the rank of Warsmith and control of one of the Legion's Great Companies.

**Vaanes;** An ex-Raven Guard marine who was lost within the eye of Terror. Along with a group of other loyalist Astartes from various chapters, he waged a gurilla war against Warsmith Honsou until a major civil war within the Iron Warriors bought him to Honsou's attention. Honsou offered him a chance to train his new champion, which he accepted.

**Sweetberry; **A hardy form of fruit tree adaptable to a wide range or climates, Sweetberries were exported to a large number of worlds during the Dark Age of Technology, and are common to most settled worlds within the Imperium. Tastes something like a cross between a strawberry and a banana.

**Brotherhood of Ultramar;** One of the many chapters created from Ultramarine geneseed, the Brotherhood of Ultrama are, for the most part, strict followers of the codex with the exception of their exceptional capabilities for stealth and shock tactics.


	4. Chapter 2

'Metal Storm'

Sorry I took longer to complete the chapter then I said; first the exams left me a bit burnt out for a few days, and then we started work on moving house. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter of BfL out soon, but no promises.

EDIT; Opps, missed a bit while editing. Should be all fixed now.

**RahXepon;** It's good to know that your interested enough to investigate my more poorly written previous stories. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**nick2591;** I'm glad to know that your enjoying it. As for the C'tan allying with Chaos…well… Lets just say that surface impressions can be a little misleading. And the Warsmith should be more careful about where he gets his bionics.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers will be forced to infiltrate the Planet Killer and steal Abaddon's morning coffee.

--

_I have never been more thankful towards the Ohmnisah._

Enginseer Bertrude, _Warrior's Chariot_, on being attacked by Asuka

**Chapter 2**

Corporal Gauman winced instinctively at the reverberating bang echoing through his bones as a shell detonated on the immense Void Shield barely a hundred meters above him. He watched warily as the shield seemed to vibrate, much like the green jelly served at the last Ascension Feast.

So far, this had been a very boring, but safe war. The initial bombardment that served as a prelude to the Chaos assault had shredded one of Tien's suburbs, and virtually all of the other military instillations (including the under-strength local PDF barracks) had been destroyed by worryingly accurate long range torpedo fire (a torpedo had oddly smashed into Tien's central park. It was assumed to be an attack on the nearby Arbites Precinct that missed). Despite the likely presence of infiltrators, the enemies' intelligence was obviously flawed; the attack on the IG fortress had been left till last, and Colonel Jarvine had the fortress' Void shield raised as soon as the orbital defence stations' short-range sensors spotted the tiny torpedos.

And the rest of the war had followed that initial pattern; long-range artillery duels between the various military formations, with virtually no engagement directly between the two forces. The only exception to this was the occasional clash between various Kill-teams sent out by both sides.

It was because of this that Gauman, normally guarantied to be found in a safe job far away from the lines, had consistently requested parameter duty. With the Void Shields above to block incoming fire, a lack of any people or tanks who could actually fire at the gap between shield and parapet, and the 'appearance' of doing important work preventing a Commissar 'volunteering' you for some behind-the-lines mission, it was actually the safest place on the planet.

Gauman snapped out of his silent musings with a start. At first, he wasn't sure what had startled him, and then he realised that the constant _thrum_ of the Void Shield had changed pitch. Twisting his head, he glanced up, and widened his eyes as a hole slowly pulled open in the shield.

There was a roar like thunder, as an immense slap of alloy slowly lowered through the gap in the force field balanced on roaring engines and humming anti-grav systems. As it descended, twisting slightly as it aligned with one of the landing pads, it revealed itself to be a space ship, one of the many transports shipping regiments and warmachines across the Imperium.

Gauman turned back to the warzone outside the fortress, feeling much more cheerful. Not only were the reinforcements nice, but also with that many more soldiers around, it would be a little easier to avoid any sort of combat duty. For Gauman, things seemed to be looking up.

--

Shinji ignored the Entry Plug's shudders as the immense transport lowered itself into the atmosphere, choosing to focus instead on the dull droning through the vox as Organti and several other Tech-Priests chanted their way through the rites of activation.

+DUES MECHANICUS, BREATH LIVE INTO THESE, YOUR MOST LOYAL MACHINES+ he said at last, and Shinji felt the familiar mental twitch as Unit 01's soul slid into the back of his mind. The cockpit lit up, the familiar, drug-like blur of colour as the system self-set flickering past, before the screen settled on the familiar cavern of the _Warrior's Chariot_'s main bay.

"I have control," Shinji muttered, carefully pushing at the mind-impulse link, before giving the unflappable Magi a thumbs-up. "Feels good from here."

+GOOD. ACCORDING TO THE SHIP'S MACHINE SPIRIT, WE SHALL LAND WITHIN FIVE MINUTES. YOU ARE TO IMMEDIATELY DEPART AND JOIN THE ARMOURED COLUMN ASSEMBLING AT THE EASTERN GATE+

"We're assaulting immediately?" Asuka asked from Unit 02.

+YES; WE WANT TO MINIMISE THE TIME THE TRAITOR FORCES HAVE TO REACT TO OUR ARRIVAL. IT GIVES US THE BEST CHANCE TO DRAW THEIR BEST UNITS INTO A MORE OPTIMAL ENAGEMENT ZONE+

"That's why we didn't go by drop-pod?" Shinji asked, wincing slightly as the _Warrior's Chariot_'s sudden landing shock threw him back into his seat.

+AFFIRMATIVE+ Organti nodded, turning his attention back to the controls. +HOLD ON FOR A LAST SYSTEMS CHECK AND BLESSING AND WE SHALL RELEASE THE CLAMPS+ Organti bent over another incense burner and the chanting started up again.

+YOUR READY TO GO+ Orgenti finally decided after another three prayers, opening the Evangelions' restraints. +I'D RECOMMEND A NORMAL WEAPON MIX; WE'VE FINALLY FINISHED THE REPAIRS ON ONE OF THE THUNDER CANNONS, SO IF ONE OF YOU TAKES IT, AND THE OTHER TAKES A MELTA…+ Shinji glanced up at Asuka's view screen and met her calm gaze.

"Asuka can have the melta," Shinji said hurriedly, waving his hands frantically, well familiar with that deceivably pleasant expression.

Asuka chuckled as she stalked away from the Eva clamps and strode towards the racked weapons on the side of the Titan bay

--

"…so, we've mainly been maintaining a defensive position within the fortress, except for the units I've deployed to support the PDF and harry the Iron Warrior positions," Colonel Jarvine concluded, wiping the sweat from his brow, before replacing his hat.

"I see…" Colonel Anthony mused tapping one of the Baneblade _Inviolable Will_'s tracks idly as he thought. "And losses? What state are your forces in?"

"Hasn't changed much from my last Astropathic message; the Vangor Seventh is a primarily infantry unit. We've lost one of our six Leman Russ' on a flank assault, and the equivalent of two squads in espionage action, but otherwise our losses are minimal."

"Okay then," Anthony nodded, standing up and grabbing onto the tank's ladder. "We'll stay with the plan we've decided on. The Tarmine 2nd and the Ultranfal Sixty Fourth artillery regiment will stay with your forces, and secure the fortress. The Tiensman Twenty Second Armoured will mount up and advance, alongside the Adaptus Mechanicus forces and the Volstien Thirty Ninth Infantry."

"Understood, sir," Jarvine nodded, stepping back. Although technically equal to Anthony in rank, the Vangor Seventh was a rear-echelon training unit, and despite a definite superiority to the battered PDF it had little experience in actual combat, resulting in a instinctive deferral to the more experienced regiment.

Anthony climbed up to the Baneblade's turret, and paused, looking back over the arrayed forces around him. _Inviolable Will_ was surrounded by five tank squadrons, each composed of two Leman Russ tanks and one of that model's specialised variants, three squads of Sentinels modified with enhanced sensoriums for Recon purposes, and twelve Chimera transports, filled with Guardsmen ready to nold the ground the tanks captured. Behind the arrayed column, the first three Titans to disembark towered over the armoured column; a Warlord and two Warhounds, weapons twitching in impatience.

Giving the mighty god machines a respectful nod, Anthony un-dogged the turret hatch and dropped inside the _Inviolable Will_.

"Colonel Anthony to Inquisition task force command," he said into the vox. mike as the holographic screens sprang to life, the Baneblade's machine spirits eagerly seeking out targets. Nodding to the Baneblade cannon loader fussing over his weapon, he pulled the shock harness on and locked it tight.

-Inquisitor Lord Thorne here, Colonel. Go ahead-

"My initial forces are deployed and ready sir" Anthony said, glancing over the tactical displays. "As we agreed, speed is our best weapon here, and the latest intel we have indicates that we already have superiority over their outermost pickets and fortifications. I recommend we start attacking now, before they have the chance to bring up some heavy units, instead of waiting for the rest of the force to dismount from the transports."

-Agreed. Our Evangelion units are disembarking now, however. They should be with you in a couple of minutes-

"Understood," Anthony replied. "We'll move out in five minutes. Over and out."

Anthony turned his attention to the forces under his command, checking readiness levels and issuing the final briefing. Then the ground began to shudder in the distinctive pattern of a walking Titan. Anthony turned his attention to the holoscreens… and felt his mouth fall open as he witnessed the mighty Evangelions of legend for the first time.

The Evangelion didn't have the incredible majesty of the Titans, but they had a sense of power and strength to match the god machines, and gave off a sense of speed and agility unmatched even by the grotesque Titan parodies of the Eldar.

Shaking his head in wonder, Anthony keyed the vox.

"All units, you have your orders, you know your place in the Imperium's unstoppable war machine. For Terra…we go to war!"

"Master," a machine priest hissed, drawing Honsou out of his inward contemplation. "The slave-scum advance. The," it spat noisily on the floor, the oily blob of blood slowly seeping into one of the bone runes paving the floor as it fed, "_pure_ Evangelions advance with them."

"Good…" Honsou growled, standing from his throne. "Deploy our own holy machines, and inform Lieutenant Grendal that our strategum begins." He paused, considering to himself for a moment. "And then leave, all of you. I need to…meditate on our next moves." As the various marines, slaves and corrupted tech-priests left (several exchanging surprised glances), Honsou turned to the silent Uryan.

"Yes," he said, gesturing with a complicated hand movement, "even you."

--

-Contact!- came over the vox. from one of the Sentinels. -Unknown contact, approximately Titan grade. Head on, appro…Holy!-

"Report!" Anthony snarled. Only the empty hiss of the vox. net answered him. "Damn," he growled, flicking over to the _Inviolable Will_'s internal net. "Driver, take us to the transmission source…" he glanced at one of the holoscreens, "…reference 14-642."

-Aye sir- game the reply as the tank spun off into a side street. Anthony watched the tactical display as _Inviolable Will_'s symbol crawled across it towards the blinking marker of the recon's last report.

_It should be just around this…_ Anthony gaped in shock, his mind freezing as the target came into view. He couldn't help it.

The monster was similar to the Evangelions deployed behind him, yet so obviously corrupted by chaos; it seemed to be in the colours of the Iron Warriors, chaos icons adorned it's chest and arms, and strings of what looked to Anthony like dried up human corpses hung from it's flanks.

It stooped down, grabbing a burned out wreck of a car from the ground. Anthony's eyes widened.

"Evade!" he screamed into the vox. as the monster flung the wreck right at him. "Throne of Earth!" he snarled, wincing as _Inviolable Will_ spun to the side. The manoeuvre came too late; a sudden, bone-shaking lurch indicating that the thrown transport had slammed into the Baneblade. A crackling of witchfire over the viewports and a strong smell of ozone indicated that the tank's Void had absorbed the impact, but had shorted and shut down.

-This is Unit 02- the vox. snarled as the red behemoth leaped overhead, causing Anthony to shrink down into his seat instinctively -stay clear, I'm going i. Shinji, cover me!-

--

"Shinji, cover me!" Asuka snarled, jumping out of cover and over the command tank, before breaking into a run. The Chaos Eva, turned from the Titan's remains and shrieked as she broke into a run.

"I'm in position," Shinji muttered, over the vox., the tactical map Kyoko was projecting on one of the screens showing him leaning out from behind the hab.

"Not yet…" Asuka muttered, as the twisted copy began to descend,

"Not yet…"

"Asuka!"

"Now!" she snapped, dropping to the ground and flinging out her AT field. There was a blinding flash at the edge of the view-screen as a Thunder Cannon blast roared overhead, through the gap opened in the diving Chaos Eva's AT field and into the monster itself.

As soon as the flash cleared, Asuka rolled and sprung to her feet. The Chaos Eva was in a somewhat mangled heap between her and Shinji; the Thunder Cannon blast had torn off it's right wing and arm, and the over-pressure from the blast had flung it into the ground and cracked most of it's armour plates.

Howling, the monster pushed itself up, and leaped for the red behemoth. Instinctively, Asuka lifted the melta and squeezed the trigger. A line of superheated air scorched across the street, and met with the creature, subliming through armour and flesh in an instant. It's inertia pulled it further into the beam, vaporising half it's chest, as well as the entry plug, before Asuka released the weapon.

She stepped aside, letting the corpse slam into the street next to her harmlessly, frowning in surprise.

_Strange… That was…easy,_ she thought in confusion, before spinning in shock at Shinji sudden, shocked shout.

--

Shinji spun, bringing the Thunder Cannon up on instinct. An Eva scale power claw embedded itself through the barrel, the protruding tips just meters from his face.

"Asuka!" he yelled, pushing hard on the weapon and forcing the abomination back a step. It howled, and slashed with it's talons again, the blow clashing off the Prog knife as he snatched it from his shoulder mount. Snarling, the Chaos construct jumped back, and kicked off a building, slamming back into Unit 01 and forcing it to the ground under it's weight.

"Hold on Shinji, I'm coming!" Asuka shouted over the vox. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the red Eva bounding up the street towards him, but most of Shinji's concentration was on the monster on top of him. Like all of the Chaos-tainted Evangelions so far, this one was very similar to Unit 01, although in this case the armour seemed to be made of a layer of small plates, with a thin pussy fluid oozing from the cracks.

It reared back, throwing a blow at his face. Shinji quickly thrust out, grabbing the arm before the blow could connect, throwing his other arm out to grab the other arm and block the follow-up blow he instinctively knew was coming.

_Hah,_ Shinji thought grimly, straining to hold back the monster's unnatural strength. _If I can just hold you until Asuka gets here…_

His thoughts were interrupted by a burning sensation, like hundreds of warrior ants were eating into his chest. Risking a glance down, he realised that the Eva was dripping a noxious looking fluid on him, and around it the armour was rusting away impossibly fast.

"Shinji, now!" Asuka shouted. Shinji gritted his teeth, and shoved out as hard as he could.

There was a sudden, blinding flash of light, and then the Entry Plug went dark as the screens blanked out completely; the optical filters completely overloaded.

Slowly, they began to flicker back to life, to revieal the red form of Unit 02 standing over him.

"You okay?" Asuka asked, stretching a hand down to Unit 01.

"Yeah," Shinji replied, pushing aside the schorched limbs that were the only remnants of the Chaos weapon and grabbed hold, hoisting himself up to his feet. "Damn thing dripped on me right before you vaporised it," he continued, wincing as parts of the corroded chest plate dug into the underlying flesh. "A sentence I never thought I'd say, by the way."

-Status?- Thorne asked over the vox.

"Fine," Shinji said, wincing at the phantom itching, "it's not the first time I've been damaged."

-True…- came the reply. -We believe that you have taken out the last of the archenemies' Evangelions on planet-

"Really?" Shinji asked in surprise. "That seemed…easier then normal."

"Shinji's right…" Asuka agreed, frowning in thought. "I suppose that it's possible they haven't triggered any '3rd Impact events'; if they haven't consumed any souls, that _might_ make them comparatively weaker…"

-Maybe. As a precaution, though, we are pulling both of you back. Asuka, head back to join the second wave, Shinji we want you to come back to the fortress-

"What!" Asuka growled. "That's crazy; we're probably the most powerful ground units you have!"

-Indeed. But Unit 01's damaged, and since we have the upper hand at present then Magi Organti and Inquisitor Thorne want him pulled back to replace the chest armour in case. And you and Unit 02 are not needed in this stage of the assault; we have over ten thousand years of experience fighting without Evangelions, so we are quite good at it. Also, if our foremost forces are rolling into some kind of trap, we'd prefer you on the outside ready to break them out, rather then caught in the trap as well-

"Damn," Asuka growled, shaking her head angrily as she turned away from the other forces. "All right, Unit 02 falling back."

"Unit 01 falling back," Shinji added, walking up alongside her as the tanks rolled past, staying well clear of the still-smoking remains of the Chaos Eva.

--

It was dark now. The holo-projectors were silent, the soldiers and slaves gone to carry out their master's desires. Only he remained now. He… and the creature silently floating in front of him.

"I was there, you know," it said idly, brushing a finger along the edge of the dead tactical display. "At the first devastation. The first real warning your race had that there was indeed life beyond the speck of dirt you call home, and that it hates you. I like to think of it as the 'First Culling of Humanity'.

"Of course, they called it something else, tried to name it, to know it. To control it." It turned, meeting the silent gaze of it's audience, and chuckled lightly as it studied the incandescent rage flickering behind his frozen eyes. "A mistake of course. In fact, the same mistake you made.

"Many people had wondered why it stopped, why their plans and desires froze at the last minute. Why only a fourth of Mankind was consumed by the 'Angel's' awakening." It chuckled, thrusting its arms wide, golden light reflecting from it's skin, even though no light source was visible.

"It was _I_, of course. I had awoken, and wished to study the galaxy anew, before the after-effects of the, ah, 'War in Heaven', forced me to resume my slumber." It paused, studying its powerless audience of one. "Ah, your rage, your anguish. It hurts doesn't it? The great powers that you worship, little more then the radioactive debris that a savage imagines is the idol of a God of Death because all who approach sicken and die." It paused studying him. "Interesting. A…sour taste I imagine you would call it. I much prefer despair though…" It paused, and shrugged. "Ah, I'll have my fill soon enough.

"Anyway, I studied the galaxy as I desired. So much else was gone… The Krork had already begun their spread, of course. The -what do you call them? Eldar?- were alive and well, of course, the only ones to come through intact. Then I found Earth.

"Amazing! A whole new race, untouched by the Old Ones! Hidden, somehow, from the ravages of the energies the War! Such potential…

"And then, they died! From the very peak of the world, the souls of humanity were being drained before my eyes! Such a feast… I couldn't resist. I drunk deep, draining as much as I could reach before the flow petered out.

"I searched then, intent on discovering what force had begun such a process. And do you know what I found?" It paused, and chuckled. "You'll have to pardon me, before the War, I had raised melodrama to something of an art form.

"Anyway, humans had started it. In fact, had I not interfered, all of humanity would have been drawn together, one soul containing all… It would have been delectable…" It paused, floating in the air in silence.

"Well, _obviously_, I had to fix what I had broken, it was only _polite_. I slipped down, and found the architect of the Culling, the 'Second Impact'. Ah Keele… he was already in my clutches you know. My Brother's influence, even trapped on an adjacent world, had shown itself; Keel was so full of machines that he had given himself over to us completely. Rather like you in fact." It studied the marine's impotent rage, holding a hand above the marine's metal forearm as it twitched and flowed like quicksilver under it's master's will, and chuckled.

"I stayed in the shadows, of course. Your 'Gods' were too powerful then. Ultimately, I was safe of course…but I like shadows. They've served me well so many times in the past. So I hid, a minor servant in the household, while I whispered into the metal in his mind. It worked, of course. The galaxy had bent and spun at my will, a single man was nothing. Everything was falling into place… And then…" The Golden figure hesitated.

"The pilots turned out to be more…tenacious then I expected. It wasn't a real problem; they would have fallen eventually. The despair I had so carefully cultivated in their minds would have seen to _that_. But, at the last minute… I admit that the Warp holds something of a sick fascination with me. It, and everything associated with it, is so chaotic… insane… unpredictable. But I never would have expected that the same forces then had guarded you humans from the Warp would coalesce into a failed experiment and completely topple my plans. The 'Shaman' reborn after our…first encounter.

"With a Psyker of such strength, I knew that my time would be limited. While my armies slumbered… well, I didn't become one of the four survivors of my race through recklessness. I made a few changes to humanity, a few presents for the future, and I returned to my slumber. It would be many thousands of years before the scratching of one of your Adaptus Mechanicus Explorator forces would wake me again… Ah, but that is another tale." It sighed, drifting towards the shadows.

"And now… The return of the Evangelions, Abaddon's insane crusade for power, these new daemon-creatures, already so full of tasty life energy…" It turned and studied the man of Iron one last time. "You, so… susceptible to my desires… It's amazing how history spirals around itself, isn't it?"

Without actually appearing to fade or reflect any less light, the immensely powerful creature vanished, as if it was never there.

To be continued…

--

**Ascension Feast;** A yearly feast that commemorates the Emperor's ascension to the Golden Throne ten thousand years ago.

**War in Heaven;** An approximate translation of an Eldar term, referring to some event in their history; an ancient war of immense magnitude between the Necrons and their C'tan masters and the rest of the galaxy. Little else is known, save that it was the largest extinction event in all history, and, despite obtaining victory, the Necrons entered their stasis tombs, leaving the galaxy for unknown reasons.

**Krork;** It is believed that this is the real name of the Ork race, 'Ork' being a corrupted version resulting from the creatures limited syntax and vocal abilities.

**Old Ones;** Next to nothing is known about these beings. During the 'War in Heaven' time period, it is believed that they effectively ruled the galaxy, although what form of rule this was can only be speculated at. It is believed that the Necrons rendered them effectively extinct.

**Adaptus Mechanicus Explorators; **Teams of Adaptus Mechanicus adapts who travel the galaxy as independent fleets, dedicated to searching out new technologies on Imperial, Xenos or abandoned worlds. Due to the dangers inherent in this task, many teams have been lost to various sources, including the very technology they find or rediscover.


	5. Chapter 3

Sorry I

Starting a new, highly involved post-grad course. Moving house, packing and unpacking boxes. I'm surprised that I didn't take longer to finish this chapter.

Fortunately, I'm almost done with moving, so soon I'll be returning to a more normal lifestyle soon.

**Isamu;** So, another new reader. To address the majority of your comments, this is a side story to Final Crusades, the second half of my Reborn Warriors series. These, and a second side story can be found on my profile (maybe I should just leave a note about that at the start of each chapter). Anyway, thanks for your review, I'm glad your enjoying the story. By the way, the section you mentioned is from Asuka's perspective, and the map Kyoko is showing is in Unit 02, displaying Unit 01's movements.

**nick2951;** Yes, I know the real history of the War in Heaven, but I usually try to present the appendix from an Imperial perspective, and the Imperium knows next to nothing about the Necrons. Yours is a good summery of those events, though. Unfortunately, Necrons have no Titans with the exception of their stationary Pylons, so I had to use something else. Cudos if you figure out what I used and where it came from.

**Rose1948;** Thanks, I'm glad your enjoying it.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers will be conscripted to work as orderlies in an asylum for sufferers of Warp psychosis.

--

_They are our sole ray of hope…which shows how hopeless this situation is._

Inquisitor-Lord Thorne, R'lyeh's Might Fortress world

**Chapter 3**

"Sentinel Alpha-1," Sargent Lowmien said into the vox, bringing the ungainly-looking walker to a halt at the edge of a junction. "I'm at junction 159, negative enemy contact, but the road is mined, make sure a mine-clearer unit goes first. Moving to junction 169, over."

-Understood Alpha-1, good work- came _Inviolable Will_'s reply. –Logging your movements. Over and out-

"Righty-oh," Lowmien muttered, glancing left and right once more before crossing the junction. He quickly strode down the next street, spinning at one point to cover an alley with the multi-las.

-Alpha-1?- the vox. hissed, breaking the silence. -This is Alpha-3. I've got something strange here…-

"Strange like what?" Lowmien asked wearily. Heine, Alpha-3's pilot was a near-chronic paranoid. A dangerous flaw in a normal unit, it had saved the semi-independent Alphas from several dangerous situations. It also meant that the squad often left a trail of gunned down servitors, vermin and the occasional pet (the death of Planetary Governor Moltan's prize escaped mole-fox had, luckily, been blamed on a startled group of cultists) in its wake. Heine, fortunately, had reflexes to match his paranoia, the alphas' tally had yet to include civilians or friendly units.

-I'm not sure, just…odd. Maybe you could come have a look?-

"Fine," Lowmien replied, forcing down a sigh. "Send me your co-ords."

--

With an ear-rattling clang, the chest armour plate's locks disengaged. The armour, the center of which was pitted and corroded as if it had been left for centuries in a swamp, fell from it's place, before swinging out on the attached cables. The crane swung around, carefully depositing the mess onto a blessed armour trailer, washed with holy water and encrusted with runes.

Orgenati glanced over at one of his subordinates, who in turn tapped on a control panel and spat out a binary prayer. A trio of servitors, twin-linked heavy multi-meltas mounted to their shoulders, rolled over to the Eva's armor plate and ignited their weapons.

Blasts of super-heated air tore into the corruption, burning the unnatural cocktail of diseases and warp magic away.

+WHAT OF UNIT 01?+ Orgenati asked, turning to face the exposed behemoth.

+SCANS INDICATE THAT THE CONTAMINATION MELTED THROUGH THE CHEST PLATE+ the Tech-priest replied, clanking up from his console, +BUT EXPOSURE OF EVANGELION TISSUE IS MINIMAL. SCANS HAVE FOUND THREE MALIGNANT, BUT MINOR TUMORS, AND NO WIDE-SCALE INFECTION+

+TURNAROUND?+ Orgenati asked, watching as a servitor began clambering over Unit 01's form towards the ugly growths protruding from it's chest.

+NOT TOO LONG; WE FIRST NEED TO BURN AWAY THE AFFECTED TISSUES, THEN REGENERATE THE MISSING MASS, REPLACE IMPLANTS, ATTACH ONE OF THE SPARE CHEST PLATES FROM STORAGE AND FINALY THE RITUALS TO RESTORE THE MACHINE SPIRIT'S HUMORS. MAYBE A COUPLE OF HOURS TOTAL+

+UNDERSTOOD+ Orgenati replied, nodding to the Tech-priest. +ALL HONOR TO THE MACHINE, BROTHER+

--

Lowmien clanked around a corner, spotting the malnourished-chicken silhouette of a fellow Sentinel.

-I assume that's you, Alpha-1?- the vox. squawked as Lowmien started down the street.

"Yes, it is," Lowmien replied, not bothering to trigger the vox. as he pulled up alongside Heine. "So, what's this problem you so desperately need me to look at."

"Right here," Heine replied, leaning out of his cabin and pointing down at the ground.

Lowmien frowned, before leaning out and looking down himself. Sticking out of the grey stones of the pavement were four thin blocks. It was some kind of very dark rock, four square blocks standing about five centimetres clear of the pathway, arranged as the points of a square.

"…what?" Lowmien asked finally. "You're worried about that?"

"I haven't seen any rock like that around here and…"

"So?" Lowmien asked, shaking his head. "It's probably just some pedestal for some destroyed statues or something."

"Then why," Heine asked, swivelling his walker slightly, tapping one of the feet on the rock with the 'tink' of metal on stone, "is the top so perfectly flat and flawless?" Lowmien hesitated, frowning in thought. "It just…" Heine continued quietly, "well, gives me a bad feeling."

"…It's probably nothing to worry about," Lowmien said finally, shaking his head. "I'll post it on the tactical net so a squad can have a closer or something, but it doesn't look dangerous to me and we don't have time to spare examining every mystery we find. Head out and resume your mission."

--

The two creaking Sentinels strode off in opposite directions. As they spun off, silence fell over the street. For a few minutes.

The ground shuddered, the 'pedestals' and their surrounding paving stones bulging up for a second, before collapsing back.

A second, larger shudder was accompanied by several cracks as the stressed paving stones broke apart, before collapsing back to the ground.

A faint, sickly green glow started to spill from the fractures around the black rock.

--

"My Lord," a marine growled, striding over to the bulky form of Grendal's Dreadnaught, "the slave-scum have spotted Imperial scouts inside the perimeter."

-+-I KNOW-+- Grendal replied, the hellish light spilling from his visor fixing the Iron Warrior to the spot. -+-LORD HONSOU HAS ALREADY INFORMED ME OF THEIR APPROACH-+- The war machine spun, clearing at the corrupted tech-priests and their vox. set up. -+-CONTACT ALL FORCES. TELL THEM, THAT THE WARSMITH DEMANDS THAT THEY ALL STAND AGAINST THE PATHETIC RABBLE OF THE CORPSE-EMPEROR, AND THAT I WILL PERSONALLY BIND ANYONE WHO FALLS TO A DAEMON FOR ALL TIME-+-

The Dreadnaught waited as the plague infested priests scuttled over their machine in terrified haste, watching out of the corner of his sensorium as the marines scattered for the defences.

Then he turned to his pet enginseer, dropping his voxponder to a minimum.

-+-tell the trusted ones to disregard that message, to bunker down and wait. our lord has something _special_ planed-+-

--

The ground vibrated as the tanks of the Imperial Guard shuddered across the street, the combined noise seemingly vibrating the air itself. Roars of gunfire started, the tanks beginning to open up with cautious long-range pot-shots at the still-distant chaos fortifications, and explosions rained back as poorly aimed return fire began to chew into the surroundings.

As the roar of war faded into the distance, the faint glow started to brighten. It pulsed, the flicker of energy accompanying a massive detonation as the ground erupted in a massive explosion. As the roar faded and the dust settled, the glow returned, brighter then ever, the black protrusions revealing themselves to be the tips of something much larger.

It rose silently, the black artefact deploying arcane weaponry and a missive crystal, glowing with the same unearthly energy that had released it, as it cleared the hole.

Rotating silently, it began to drift in the wake of the Imperial battle force, flashes of green in the distance marking the awakening of it's fellows.

--

Lowmien flinched as ordinance roared past overhead, ducking into the Sentinel's cabin instinctively as the shells whistled past.

As he had advanced, he had spotted the fortifications the Iron Warriors had set up. It looked like a series of thick, black metal plates welded into the buildings to block off streets, with weapons towers and ports at irregular intervals.

He had snapped up a contact report and location details. Then ducked his sentinel into the nearest cover. A pretty good action, since the following tanks had opened up as soon as they had come in range, turning the street into a lethal fire lane.

Lowmien frowned. Sentinel pilots were trained, amongst other things, as observers for attachment to artillery regiments, a position he'd filled a few times with the Ultranfal 64th artillery regiment. And that experience was screaming in the back of his mind, shouting that something was wrong.

Lowmien stared out from his hiding place, trying to put his finger on the problem. The shells were slamming into the chaos fortifications, tearing holes into the metal walls with typical Guard efficiency, while the return fire seemed random and mostly ineffectual.

_Wait…_ Lowmien thought with growing unease. _These are _Iron Warriors_; they're _experts_ at this…_

"Command," he snapped, hitting the vox. "Alpha-1 here. Something's wrong, the Chaos response to our assault is out of character. This could be some kind of trap, Command…"

Lowmien's warning was interrupted and the vox. emitted an unearthly scream of pain and terror.

--

Anthony snarled as the scream sounded over the vox, pulling on the controls to bring the turret around as _Inviolable Will_ skewed in a u-turn. He winced at green flash of the particle whip as it scorched into the road, the remaining fragments of the trailing Leman Russ vaporising before they hit the ground. Anthony pulled the trigger, and felt the tank shudder with discharge. The HEAT round flashed out and smashed into the side of the Monolith, ripping one of the four tips to black shreds.

"Hah!" he shouted. "Quick, reload!" The tank spun again, too slow this time as the particle whip slashed into the side of the mighty war machine. Anthony winced as a scream sounded over the vox. as the port sponson with it's Bolters, Lascannon and gunner were atomised by the blast.

"Ready to fire!" the loader shouted, ramming the breach shut.

"All right you bastard," Anthony growled, shifting the targeting icon away from the shattered structure, which he noticed was beginning an unholy regeneration with liquid metal flowing out of the artefact's core, and settled the weapon on a more promising target.

"Okay, then…" he muttered, poised on the trigger. The Monolith's crystal flickered with energy, ready to tear deeper into _Inviolable Will_'s flank.

Anthony fired. The HEAT round roared out of the barrel and slammed into the side of the glowing crystal. The explosion of the shell was far outstripped by the detonation of the crystal, a rush of energy that shock _Inviolable Will_ as if it were little more then a piece of meat in a neo-mutt's jaws.

As the flare died, the Monolith simply fell apart, crashing to the ground. It was as if it's parts had been held together not by welds or rivets, but be an incredible, supernatural force. A force, which had apparently, simply vanished.

The lumps of metal suddenly glowed, and faded away, leaving only prints in the scorched road.

"…alright," Anthony muttered, whipping his forehead, "let's find another…"

--

+QUIET!+ Orgenati howled, vibrating slightly with his maxed-out voxponder. The panicking Tech-priests fell silent, two literally freezing in place as they instinctively locked their servos.

+RIGHT+ he continued, dropping the volume slightly, +THE ONLY CRITICAL REPAIR IS REPLACING THE ARMOUR, SO ABORT ALL OTHER OPERATIONS. JUST ENSURE THAT THE CHEST PLATE IS ATTACHED+ he glanced up at the control room, and the worried, white-suited figure watching. +AND PILOT IKARI, IT MAY BE PAINFUL, BUT I WANT YOU IN UNIT 01, LINKED UP AND READY TO GO THE INSTANT WERE READY+

+WHAT OF THE PRAYERS TO THE MACHINE SPIRIT?+ one of the Tech priests called out.

+WE DON'T HAVE THE TIME, I'LL BEG THE MACHINE SPIRIT'S FORGIVNESS MYSELF. NOW, MOVE!+

--

The lash of Necron weaponry caused the sky to glow green with their power, the faint roar of their power reaching the Chaos barricades.

-+-BRING UP THE ARTILLERY AND THE RESERVES-+- Grendal roared, his siege drill clawing hungrily at the air. -+-OPEN THE GATES AND RELEASE OUR DAEMONS!-+- He strode to the barricades as it parted, hidden hinges unfolding the black metal like a piece of complex origami. -+-NOW, BROTHERS! KILL THEM IN THE NAME OF CHAOS AND SEND THEIR BROCKEN BODIES BACK TO THEIR EMPEROR, IN HIS NAME-+-

--

"Damn it, I _told_ you," Asuka growled, pushing Unit 02 hard as she ran for the cut off Imperial Guard.

-And _I_ told _you_, pilot- Thorne replied over the crackling vox. -'If this turns out to be an ambush, I want you on the outside to break them out'-

"Right…" Asuka muttered, before shaking her head. "So, what do we have? More Evas, or some Titans maybe?"

-I wish- Thorne muttered, causing Asuka to raise an eyebrow. -If the reports are accurate, we may be looking at Necrons-

"What the hell are these…Necrons?" Asuka asked.

-We don't know, all these centuries and we know next to nothing about them. What I can tell you is that they're a xenogenic race, made of some kind of lving metal, their weapons are much more powerful then our own, and they're slow to move-

"I see…" Asuka muttered. She was about to ask for more, when she spotted a glow in the corner of her eye. She spun, bringing her weapon up smoothly and…

Asuka hesitated, blinking in surprise. It was some kind of pyramid, made of what appeared to be an impossibly black stone. Circuit-like runes glowed in its side panels and a weapon cluster protruded from a spot three quarters the way up each corner. A green jewel topped the machine, cradled within a curved piece of arcane technology. Overall, it looked like something that should be in a crypt, or maybe an Indiana Jones film.

The crystal glowed, before unleashing a lash of green energy.

"Gah!" Asuka hissed in pain, snapping out of her surprise as she reflexively grabbed her chest. Jumping to the side, she dodged behind a nearby hab, before glancing down at Unit 02's armour. There was a smoking gash right down the middle of the chest plate.

"Impossible…" she murmured, before keying the vox. "Command, I don't know how, but that… 'Necron' blast went right through my AT field without being affected."

-Warp take it- came the angry reply. -What about your weapons?-

"Hold one," Asuka replied, before tensing and leaping out.

A green lash of energy flickered out, but missed the diving Evangelion, scouring a shallow grove down the side of an arm. As she hit the floor, Asuka triggered the melta she was still carrying.

The blast of heat tore into the pyramid shape, stripping away weapons and layers of armour. The construct tilted, the damaged side drooping as it slowly spun, trying to bring more weapons to bear.

"Tough thing," Asuka muttered, climbing to her feet, before taking a few steps back and braking into a run. Just as the machine cleared line of sight, her foot slammed into it, kicking it high into the air over the city. A faint explosion signified it landing, as it crashed down somewhere behind Chaos lines.

"And that's a touchdown," she murmured, before turning her attention back to her surroundings as a brightening green glow started to emit from a side street.

--

Warsmith Honsou glared out over the, once again, bustling war-room.

"The red Evangelion has re-entered the combat zone," one of the marines said, glancing up from the twisted tactical display. "It seems to be effective against our… allies as well as our warriors."

Honsou smirked, leaning back silently for several seconds, before a jolt of pain raced out from his arm. A warning, rather then anything really deliberating to a marine.

Hiding his sudden anger with the mastery he'd learned over the past few months, Honsou turned to one of the scattered traitor enginseers.

"You," he hissed, pointing, "go to the 3rd laboratorium, and tell them it is time to show the fruits of their labour."

He turned back to the display, feeling Uryan eyes watch his body language with great interest.

--

_Inviolable Will_ shuddered around a corner, an eruption of bent metal marking the death of the Destroyers that had plagued it.

-Alpha-1 to _Inviolable Will_, I'm picking up a new contact. It's titan-scale, but it's moving fast! It'll reach my position in-_Holy Emp…_-

"Alpha-1," Anthony said, tapping the vox. There was no reply. Shaking his head, he flipped back to the internal net. "Driver, we've lost contact with one of our scouts, but he reported a new contact at heading 259. find us a route in that direction.

Anthony ignored the acknowledgement, spinning the torrent to face in Alpha-1's direction.

The tank had just started down the street, when the mysterious contact strode out from behind a building.

"What the hell?" Anthony muttered, staring at the odd humanoid, almost physically impossible, figure in a second of shock.

A second that lasted too long.

The blow came instantly, the thin limb flashing out from the side of the creature and passing right through the tank, the monomolecular edge slicing through _Inviolable Will_'s thick armour without even slowing.

_Inviolable Will_ detonated, taking its crew and Colonel Anthony of the Tiensman 22nd Armoured Regiment with it.

--

Asuka turned the corner, stepping over the remains of a melting Monolith, and froze.

She saw the Baneblade shatter under the blow.

She saw it's attacker casually fling the burning wreckage from it's limb.

She saw it turn towards her.

"No…" she whimpered unwillingly. "That's…that's impossible…"

To be continued…

--

**Sentinel;** One of the many vehicles in use by the Imperial Guard, the Sentinel has proven to be a highly potent tool. A lightly armoured, two legged walker, the Sentinel nevertheless can mount a variety of heavy weaponry. This leads to two main roles; either as a long range scout or as support for Infantry platoons. This often leads to the pilots developing an unusually independent frame of mind for Imperial Guard forces, but most officers are smart enough to allow this, given the usefulness of a squad of Sentinels.

**Monolith;** The sole mechanised unit in the Necron armoury. Easily equivalent to the Land Raider in terms of defensive strength, the four clusters of Gauss Flayers provide 360 degree coverage, resulting in superior offensive abilities then the Imperial tank. The main abilities of the Monolith, however, are the Gauss whip projected from the Monolith's control/power crystal and it's ability to teleport more Necron Units into the field. As with all Necron technology, on the Monolith's destruction, the weapon teleports out, presumably to it's original Tomb World.


	6. Chapter 4

'Metal Storm'

Here we are again. I don't have too much to say here, only thanks for sticking with me even when it became months between updates.

**KuMardagg;** So close… Well, you are _almost_ correct. And thanks, I'm trying to keep up the quality. I'm glad it seems to work.

**nick2951;** Thanks, I hope you guessed right (someone surely did). The AT-field _is_ the barrier of the soul, and Necrons are almost (but not quite) soulless, so since they have no souls, there's nothing for the AT field to act against. Or at least, that's the impression I want to give. Besides, Necron tech is lightyears ahead of even the DAoT level of human tech. I'm glad your enjoying the story, and I hope I continue to meet your expectations.

**Isamu;** Great! I admit that the earlier stories were not as good as these, I like to think I've improved since then, but hopefully, they'll at least fill in the gaps.

**Rose1948;** Thanks! I always appreciate it when someone tells me they enjoy the story. It makes it all worthwhile.

**Sean Tucekr;** Courage and Honor!

--

_Battle for Loroncis_

**Rose1948;** Thanks again, I'm glad your enjoying it.

**PuppySlayer;** Great! I hope you continue to do so.

**nick2951;** Yeah, I could see Asuka falling into old habits quite easily. It is actually 'sympathetic pain,' as described in the Titan Graphic Novels (the pain the Princeps feels is 'sympathetic' to the Titan's pain). It's only a minor point though. I'm glad you liked that story, and I will continue the other story… well, right now.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers are asked to consider all possible meanings of 'silent as the grave.'

--

_Such a delicious feast…_

Unknown

**Chapter 4**

_Nemisis Tessara_

_2 years ago_

Magos Orgenati strode into the Inquisition Fortress' main Geneator laboritarium striding past bubbling vats and silent servitors carefully adjusting nutrient feeds, he slowed to a halt next to an unusually large vat. Within, the faint bulk of a Chimera-sized sphere could vaguely be seen through the viscous orangey fluid.

Nodding to himself, Orgenati turned and strode off, heading for one of the laboritorium's annexes. The door clacked and hissed open as the Magos walked in, causing the Tech-priest bending over an incense wreathed console to look up.

+GENATOR ALASTIUM?+ Orgenati buzzed, a hiss of static hissing for a second, before clearing. +I CAME FOR THE LATEST UPDATE ON THE PRELIMINARY GENE TREATMENTS ON THE HOLY EVANGELIONS+

+THE TESTS CONTINUE WELL, MY LORD+ Alastium replied, +THE OHMNISAH APPEARS PLEASED WITH OUR WORK. ASTARTES TYPE GENE SEQUENCES ARE INCOMPATIBLE OF COURSE, BUT TISSUE SAMPLES HAVE RESPONDED WELL TO THE TREATMENTS USED ON CADIA FOR THE IMPERIAL GUARD'S KASRKIN TROOPS. ASSUMING NO PROBLEMS OCCUR, THEN IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO BOOST THE EVANGELION BASE PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS BY 7 to 23 PERCENT MINIMUM+

+GOOD+ Orgenati said, nodding slightly. +AND WHAT OF THE S2 ORGAN SAMPLES?+

+AFTER USING THE TIP OF THE LANCEA LONGINUS TO WEAKEN THE ARTIFACT, THE SERVITORS REMOVED CHIPS OF THE SHELL+ Alastium replied, tapping on the keypad. +THE GENE-COGNITORS FINISHED UNRAVELLING THE GENECODE AND CLONING BEGAN TWO DAYS AGO. THE NEW S2 CORE WILL BE READY FOR IMPLANTATION IN UNIT 02 WITHIN TWO HOURS. THE ORIGIONAL SAMPLES WERE STORED IN THAT GENE-VAULT THERE+ Alastium gestured to one of the locked vaults set in the wall, the faint glow of active stasis fields glowing from between heavy metal clamps.

+AND THEY ARE SECURE?+

+OF COURSE MY LORD. I CALLED THE BLESSINGS OF THE OHMNISAH ON THE VAULT MYSELF+

+VERY GOOD. YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR WORK+

+OF COURSE, MAGOS+ Alastium replied, turning back to his console in a gust of incense and a murmur of prayer. Orgenati studied the Tech-priest for a moment, then gestured with a flick of a hand.

Alastium convulsed. He slid from his chair, limbs shuddering as every implant in his body locked. His remaining flesh sizzled as the Potentia coil built into his body dumped it's stored charge all at once. Finally, he lay silent, boiled brain fluid leaking from the edges of the implants in his head, hissing as it began to pool.

Orgenati chuckled, before turning back to the gene-vault. A wave of a hand unsealed all the various locks and security systems, allowing the lid of the vault to rise silently. Orgenati reached in and withdrew a tiny, red shard.

+YEs," he said, voice shifting as his skin began to flow like quicksilver. "This will do nicely."

He vanished in a flash of gold. Seconds later, Alastium's console exploded in a roar, shattering the gene-vault and reducing Alastium's body to scorched ruin.

--

_Vangor_

_Present Day_

Asuka leaped aside in fear-fuelled desperation, the two razor-thin blades slicing into the ground where she was just standing. She pushed herself back to her feet as the hulking bulk of the monster shifted, slowly turning to face her. Her eyes falling to the familiar shape of an orb, standing proud of its stomach, Asuka twisted, instinct propelling her towards the nearest cover.

Even as she spun, the orb flared with unholy light, blasting a familiar cross-shaped flare of energy, familiar, yet threaded through with the unfamiliar green lightning of Gauss weaponry, tore through the buildings, vaporising permecrete and metal with equal ease.

Asuka hit the floor in a dive, tearing up the ground as she slid into cover. A building collapsed behind her as she drew to a halt, the intense glow of the monster's beam tearing out its guts. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet, movements slowed as her mind quizzed from shock and deeply imbedded fear.

It was impossible, yet she knew that monster. The bulky, vaguely humanoid body, the bone-white, mask-like face, the ridiculously thin, yet impossibly strong and sharp limbs… A creature that had stalked the halls of her dreams throughout the millennia of her confinement within Unit 02.

Yet there were differences. Metal sprouted from it's skin, pipes, wires and archaic devices seemed to flow into the beast and each other, in the manner of some of the hulking Obliterators used by the chaos armies. A pyramidal structure, reminiscent of the Monolith, sprouted from a cluster of cables and machines on its shoulders, its inhuman weapons constantly sweeping back and forth. And finally, the car-sized sphere that formed its core, the reality distorting form of a S2 organ, was a dull sickly green.

--

"What the Warp is that?" Thorne half-shouted, staring at the half-fuzzy hologram flickering above the hololith.

+UNKNOWN+ one of the Tech-priests replied flatly, the light on his face flickering as data flowed across his screen at several times the normal rate. +THERE IS NO MATCH IN ANY OF OUR AVALIBLE CODEX FILES. THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE A SLIGHT PHYSICAL MATCH WITH THE EVANGELION, BUT NOTHING ELSE+

"It's like nothing we've ever seen…" Thorne muttered, shaking his head. Then he paused, as a thought occurred to him. "Quick," he snapped, turning to the Vox. consoles, "get me a link with Unit 01."

Another hologram flickered into existence, this one displaying the inside of Unit 01's entry plug and the form of it's pilot.

-What's going on- Shinji asked, static-distorted worry filling the transmission, -Asuka's worried… no, terrified! What the hell is she fighting?-

"We don't know," Thorne replied, before glancing aside. "Feed the tactical display through to Unit 01." Turning back to the screen, he watched as Shinji's eyes flicked aside as another display came to life. "I remember that you told us that the Evangelions were created to fight creatures you called 'Angels.' Is this…"

-No…- Shinji hissed in horror. –Not that one… Thorne, I need to get out there now! Please!-

"What is it!" Thorne replied

-It's the 14th Angel, nearly the worst of the lot, last time Asuka fought it she was damn near killed and she's _all alone out there! _Now please,_ let me go!_-

"Go," Thorne nodded, I'll get Orgenati to release your restraints. Switch the comm.'s over." The image flickered, shifting from the terrified pilot to a startled Tech Magos. "Orgenati," Thorne snapped, "how long until Unit 01's ready?"

+HE'S READY NOW+ Orgenati replied, obviously biting back questions, +WE'RE JUST DOING A LAST SYSTEM'S CHECK AND…+

"No time for that," Thorne shouted, "release the restraints and get him out there; we're in a hell of a lot of trouble!"

Thorne waved a hand, cutting off Orgenati's surprised agreement mid-word, and glanced over the display, bitting his lip.

"Damn it," he growled, glaring at the uncompromising glow of the display's runes, "we've got Traitors on one side, Necrons on the other, Emperor-alone knows where they came from, our overall Guard C.O. is apparently KIA, our next wave is still nearly half an hour away and now this 'thing' appearing right out of ancient history and still holding a grudge. And the remnants of our first attack wave are stuck right in the middle.

"Comm.'s! Get me a line to the _Sword of Justice_. We need a miracle right now, and they're the closest thing around."

--

Black-clad men strode through the ship's corridors, metal feet clanging against the deck-plates. As the corridor opened up, they split up, forming into squads that moved towards the silent machines hanging in from the ceiling, tended by a swarm of servitors.

As they approached, hatches disengaged, folding down to touch the floor. One by one, the warriors climbed into the belly of the devices, securing themselves to padded crash couches.

As the last of the hatches pulled closed, the servitors pulled back while airlocks underneath the machines slid open, the pods smoothly descending on oiled and blessed rails to slot into the exposed tubes. A warning bell sounded, the pods engines wining into life. Electromagnetic fields sprung into life, tugging at the pods against their clamps, trying to drag them out into the void.

A second, louder bell pealed. The clamps disengaged.

And the Battlebarge _Sword of Justice_ spewed its deadly cargo onto the planet below.

--

"Not again," she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut for a second, futilely trying to slow her racing heart.

"Not again!" she screamed, leaping out from the building and opening fire with the melta. The supper heated blast of air tore through the air, straight for the angel's glowing core…

…and stopped, forming a massive heat haze as it met the orange glow of an AT field.

Asuka, gapped in astonishment, before leaping aside. Too slowly. With a casual flick, Zeruel shot an arm out.

And Unit 02's right shoulder, the melta still clutched in it's fist, tore away in a spray of LCL.

--

Blood and gore sprayed into the air as the dreadnaught's immense siege hammer tore into the pleading tank officer's rib cage, flattening him instantly. Grendal stepped back, basking in the sound of the blood dripping from his carapace.

"My Lord," an Iron Warrior shouted, pointing at the sky as he dragged Grendal out of his moment of contemplation. "Drop Pods!"

Grendal leaned back, the Dreadnaught barely able to remain stable enough to allow him to lean back far enough. Streaks of fire were descending from the clouds, racing for the ground at bone-breaking speed.

The first of the pods hit, tearing into the defences they had abandoned behind them. The familiar chatter of Bolters started up, the command vox. channel fading as the marines tore through the Iron Warrior's abandoned positions, tearing through the slaves and cultists remaining behind.

The clouds parted again, this time overhead as more Drop Pods fell, this time for the Chaos forces themselves.

-+-LOYALIST FOOLS!-+- Grendal howled, his vox. unit turned up to maximum. -+-KILL THEM ALL! LET THEM DIE BY TRAITOR'S HANDS!-+- He charged, his vast metal bulk moving at a deceivably fast speed for the nearest black Drop pod. As the sides dropped down, he raised his breaching drill, ready to tear apart the vulnerable cargo within, before the restraints could be disengaged.

The hatches hit the ground, and Grendal's gaze met, not the multiple stares of a tactical squad, nor the impotent gaze of a secured dreadnaught, but the hollow barrels of a Thunderfire cannon.

The accompanying Tech-marine reacted first, stabbing at the cannon's controls with the superhuman speed of an Astartes. The four barrels roared as one, throwing the cannon against its restraints with a squeal of metal on metal.

Grendal had one searing, pain-filled moment to feel his multi-ton body fly backwards under the impact. Then the shells detonated, and his soul fled into the clutches of the masters of the Warp.

--

Shinji pelted across the city, pushing the Evangelion so hard that the air pressure was shattering windows. He didn't even pause for the second Imperial wave, charging for the battle as fast as their engines would go; he just tensed and leaped over the armoured column without slowing.

However fast he was going, it was still too slow, the long-range sensors zooming in just in time to catch Unit 02 collapsing, a fountain of LCL pouring from it's shoulder before the armour automatically cauterised the wound.

He didn't pause to gasp or shout or scream, he just spun, flinging his weapon with anger-fuelled strength at the monster.

The lance flew straight and true for the creature's core, slamming into it's AT field and slowing as its supernatural powers fought to fracture it.

Before it could penetrate the incredible defence, however, the angel's core glowed to life. Necron-enhanced energies engulfed the ancient weapon, tearing away at its most fundamental molecular structure. There was a brilliant, green flash that left unnatural spots in Shinji's eyes.

And when it faded, the 14th Angel still stood tall, the Lancea Longinus nowhere in sight.

To be continued…

--

**Kasrkin;** Specialised troopers trained only by the Cadian Imperial Guard Regiments, superior even to the schoola-trained Stormtroopers in skill and ability. Kasrkin also use specialised armour, training and even genetic-modification and bio-mod treatments to improve their abilities.

**Potentia coil;** One of the main implants of the Adaptus Mechanicus, the coil is present in all Tech-priests, from the humble engineseer to the highest Magos. It has the ability to absorb, store and re-emit all known energies, though the ability to use the more esoteric energies are only available with training given to the more higher-ranking Tech-prists.

**Obliterator;** Obliterators are created from Chaos marines wearing Terminator armour who are infected with a rare, chaos twisted infection. The infection alters the host, slowly converting it into a bio-mechanical hybrid, one capable of twisting his flesh and metal into ever more complicated shapes. Full Obliterators are capable of reforming their flesh into virtually any man-portable weapon, which they can then fire with ease.

**Thunderfire Cannon;** A potent Astartes weapon, the Thunderfire cannon is a small, unarmoured artillery weapon intended for deployment in areas too rugged for effective tank deployment. A potent weapon, capable of air-burst, line-of-sight and seismic (fired into the ground top generate a 5 meter earthquake under the target) use, the weapon is more temperamental then more traditional ordnance platforms, and can only be run by a full Tech-marine, rather then tech-marine trained drivers and gunners.


	7. Chapter 5

…I'm really sorry. Really, really sorry. I can't explain why it's taken me so long to update this, it just seemed like my inspiration simply went and dried up on me, possibly as a result of a Uni course that is actually interests me. I've actually had half of this written and waiting for over two months without being touched, but I simply haven't had the will or interest to write it.

But I have promised that I would finish this, and by the Holy Emperor, I _will_ get this done!

I would like to say that I will have the next Chapter and the Epilogue up soon, but with end-of-semester assignments pilling up, and a trip overseas to Africa coming up, I cant' promise anything, other then reiterating that this will be finished. I can only hope that the chapter's quality will make up for the length of time for it to be finished.

On a side note; A common comment on the previous chapter was on my destruction of the Lancea Longinus. Basically, I noticed that the Lance seemed to have vanished between the 5th and 6th chapters of Final Crusade. So I began to wonder why, what had happened to the Deus Es Machina of NGE. If it wasn't being used, it must have been destroyed, but what in the 41st Millennium could do that? Then I brought Zuriel and the Necrons into the story, and I had my answer.

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**Rose1948;** Yep. And if I'm doing it right, it should be just as intense in this chapter as well.

**nick2951;** Hopefully, you'll think that this chapter ends on even more of a bang. As for the Deceivers and chewing down Zuriel, well, watch this space.

**Warp Ligia;** Shinji and Unit 01 are a lot less likely to go bezerk nowadays; when you fight horrific, be-tentacled abominations from beyond-time-and-space, the go-nuts-and-freak-out threshold gets pushed surprisingly high. Though, watching Asuka get attacked by Zuriel for the second time probably pushes pretty close. As for loosing tension as a result of being a midquel, the Commissar Cain novels manage pretty well and their chronology is really screwed up. I'm sure I can manage to keep a fair amount of tension just as well.

…Boy, I'm setting myself up for a disappointment there…

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As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers will be drugged, stripped, have a poster reading "I'm a heretic" glued to their chest and finally left outside the entrance to a Sisters of Battle covenant.

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_Plans within plans, my dear Inquisitor. Plans within plans…_

Unknown Source

**Chapter 5**

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, the faint haze that was all that remained of the ancient weapon hanging in the air between the two giants. Then Zeruel moved, dropping into a crouch before leaping towards Unit 01.

Shinji jumped aside, AT field flaring out at an angle, diverting the attack off into a nearby building. As the Angel hit and rebounded from the AT field, however, green lightning stabbed out from the Necron constructs wired into it's flesh. The unnatural lightning passed through the field as if it wasn't there, scouring deep groves in his armour as Zeruel passed by in a blur.

Drawing the bus-sized plasma pistol from it's home in Unit 01's shoulder mount, Shinji aimed and fired instinctively. The blue tear of super-heated plasma tore into the Angel's chest and detonated in a bright flash of light.

Even before the glare from the blast faded, Zeruel flung itself at Shinji, the slight heat-scared crater in its chest filling with liquid metal almost instantly.

It's blade-limbs lashed out, one smashing the pistol from his hand, the other tearing into his chest armour. Shinji gasped in pain as the blow threw him back, smashing Unit 01 into the street. The AT field faded as his focus flickered.

Shinji chocked, his lungs expelling LCL in sympathy as Zeruel's knees slammed into Unit 01's abdomen. The Angel's bladed limbs slashed out, tearing into Unit 01's chest.

Shinji felt the Evangelion shudder, a strange sense of déjà vu flickering in the back of his head as Zeruel refused to let up, pounding repeatedly against the thick power armour welded to Unit 01's flesh.

Forcing his mind through the pain, Shinji brought his hands up, grabbing at the two ribbon-like limbs. More pain shot through his hands as the molecule-thick edge of the limbs sliced deep into his hands, but the supernatural strength of Unit 01 held, Zeruel almost throwing itself off balance as it tried to pull free.

Shinji braced himself and then pulled, hard. The Angel stumbled, falling forward as it fell off balance. Even as it began to fall, Shinji kicked out, slamming his foot into the monsters tainted core at supersonic speeds. Zeruel flew backwards from the impact, it's limbs tearing out of Shinji's grasp as the Angel smashed into the hab-block behind it. Even as it fell, Shinji snatched his power sword from it's scabbard, charging towards the stunned beast.

A flicker of green light was his only warning as energies flared from the Angel's core. Then the cross-shaped weapon tore into him. A scream escaped from Shinji's throat, echoing his mother's scream inside his head, as his chest seemed to explode into fire, throwing him backwards down the street.

The pain in his back as he slammed into the street was anti-climactic by comparison.

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Flickering light shifting across his face, Honsou watched the tactical display closely. Narrowing his eyes as the translucent reproduction of the bio-mechanical, hybrid construct grabbed and threw the purple Evangelion to the ground, Honsou turned to catch the eye of the ever-present figure of Uryan.

Uryan shifted his attention to him, tilting his head slightly in a silent query. Honsou hesitated, faint emotions flickering across his face as he weighed his choices, before nodding, once.

Uryan fixed his gaze on the silent warriors clustered around the holo-display and strode forward, drawing his sword as he passed his master. Then, without warning, he span, the blade slashing out at abdomen height.

Pain crawling through him, Honsou instinctively tried to leap up, before collapsing to his knees. Impulses shot through his nervous system, spreading out from the abomination clamped to his elbow, but the damage was too severe even for an Astartes. Despite the orders clawing at his mind, Honsou slumped to the ground, blood forcing it's way up his throat.

Ignoring the collapsed form of his dying lord, Uryan turned his attention to the stunned inhabitants of the room.

"By the will of the Gods," he said, the unfamiliar, cultured tones filling the silent room for the first time, "the title of Warsmith and lordship of his cohorts is now mine. Forget the Imperials; all true servants of the Warp are to fire on the metal abominations that would try to enslave Chaos."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinji coughed, lungs screaming in sympathy with Unit 01's shattered chest. Gothic runes spilled across the flickering holo-displays, screaming out messages of pain and damage as the various Japanese computers and Imperial cognitors infesting the Evangelion registered their complaints.

Shinji didn't need the blurred damage reports though, the massive crater in Unit 01's chest was as clear in his mind as if it were his own rib cage that had been exposed to the air.

Something moved, a faint haze behind the clustered damage reports. Squinting instinctively, Shinji felt the LCL catch in his throat as the image resolved into the squatting figure of the 14th Angel slowly walking towards him. It came to a halt next to him, and seemed to stare at the downed Eva for a moment.

Then the core lit up with the pus-green energies of the Necrons.

Idly, through a haze of pain and a mind that had apparently turned to cotton wool, Shinji wondered if he should be doing anything.

"Not a second time monster! NOT A SECOND TIME!"

The red shape of Unit 02 slammed into Zeruel's back, throwing the Angel clear over the prone Unit 01 and into the street behind him. Tilting his head up, Shinji watched in dull surprise as Asuka, from her perch on the Angel's back, grabbed Zeruel and started repeatedly slamming it's head into ground.

The Necron construct on Zeruel's shoulders flared, gauss energy reaching out to score lines in Unit 02's face. The attack did little to harm her, but it did distract Asuka long enough for Zeruel to heave backwards, forcing itself away from the ground.

As the Angel struggled upright, Asuka locked Unit 02's legs around it's waist. With a secure anchorage, she grabbed at the Moalith embedded in Zeruel's shoulders with her remaining arm and pulled with all her might. The Necron structure resisted for a few seconds, and then in a screech of tortured metal and a spray of LCL, tore free from the Angel.

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Antellus ghosted through the shadows of the street in a way that most people, even other Astartes, would consider flatly impossible for someone wearing half a ton of power armour.

The Brotherhood of Ultramar, however, recruited only from perpetually near-dark worlds, and the eternal twilight lead to an instinctive grasp of stealth

+Contact+ came the hiss of the vox, Battle-brother Bruul scouting several meters ahead. +Looks like a combat squad of Necrons. They are unaware of our presence.+

"Understood, brother," Antellus whispered back, drifting to the other side of the street. "Moving to flank; go in 10." Antellus drew to a halt by a downed air-car, cautiously raising enough to glance over the top of the wreck.

The Necrons were barely a few meters away, lit by the pestilent glow of their weapons. They were striding down the street in their normal, unhurried gait, aiming for the nearby roar of bolters in an attempt to flank the main offensive.

Antellus paused, counting the seconds down, before leaping clear over the wreck, bolter blazing. As the first construct went down, shuddering under the impact of the bolts, a second warrior on the far side of the formation dropped, ribcage detonating under Bruul's simultaneous assault.

The Necrons swung, two trying to bring their weapons to face Antellus, while the last turned toward Bruul, but before they could bring their guns to bare, both Astartes had hit the ground and charged, bolts flying.

A third Necron dropped, fading even as it hit the ground, and Antellus slamed into the fourth, the heavy weight of his bolter, wielded like a club, throwing it off into the street. A blast from the bolter shattered it's rib cage, and Antellus turned just in time to see Bruul tear his target in half. Two pops sounded, and the last of the Necrons vanished into thin air.

"Targets down," Antellus said, turning away from the sight of the battle and turning back to his mission.

The green light was the only warning, the pyramidal weapon floating out of a side street silently, without even the faint hum of Eldar grav-tanks. The weapons flared, the coruscating energies blasting from the machine, engulfing Bruul. The marine disappeared in a silent scream, the guass energies eating through armour, flesh and ceramic bone in seconds.

Snarling, Antellus ran, sprinting for the nearest cover while spraying bolts in the abomination's direction. Green light flared in the corner of his eye, and Antellus leaped aside. The flaring energy almost missed, merely consuming his right leg, but the air pressure from the blast threw him through the nearest wall.

Antellus' vision faded out for a moment as he slammed into the ground. As it returned, his vision was almost overwhelmed by damage icons flickering across his visual cortex. Even without them, he could tell that his missing leg would ensure he wasn't going anywhere fast.

The sudden crash of bricks from behind him indicated that the Monolith had just smashed through the wall after him. Gritting his teeth, Antellus scrabbled for his Bolter, a grim determination that he would face his death weapon in hand and spitting defiance.

A shadow fell over him. Antellus looked up, to see the pyramidal bulk of the Monolith push through the ruins, weapons crackling with green lightning. A bright flash of light blinded Antellus for a second, before his improved eyes compensated for the flare.

The Monolith was spinning, a hand deep wound in it's flanks. There was another flash; the blue-white incandescent beam of a lascannon, and one of the behemoth's weapon arrays shattered in a crackle of energy.

The Monolith opened up, an intense firestorm of arcane energies tearing deep into the ruins around it. This seemed to be a signal the attackers were waiting; a fusillade of lascannon shots and plasma rounds erupted from the surroundings, tearing deep into the alien construct.

The Monolith spun almost wildly, the deadly beams of it's gauss cannons blasting out at random. Then something seemed to give. The supernatural energies surrounding it vanished and the artefact fell like a puppet dropped by a street performer. Before it hit the ground there was a _crack_ of imploding air, a stench of ozone, and the Monolith's hulk vanished without a trace.

Silence fell. Antellus blinked, even his supernatural vision struggling to adapt to the sudden gloom after the intensely bright fire-fight. Faintly, he made out the familiar bulk of an Astartes stride out from the surrounding ruins.

"Battle-Brother," he gasped, allowing himself to slump against the ground, "you… you have my thanks…"

"Oh," came the hollow, sneering reply, "I really doubt that." Antellus tensed, looking up in horror to see not the familiar black armour of his own Chapter, but the dirty metal armour of an Iron Warrior. Instinctively, he pushed himself forward, reaching desperately for his Bolter

"None of that," it sneered, kicking his weapon aside before he could reach it, "I've survived for thousands of years, fighting the best your Corpse-God could throw at me. I'm not going to fall to someone like _you_."

"Whatever you do, traitor," Antellus hissed, pushing himself up on his remaining elbow, "my brothers will…"

"As much as it pains me to admit it, _cousin_," the Iron Warrior growled, stepping back and glaring down at him, "I can not claim your life here. At the moment, our desires run in parallel, and my Warsmith would prefer your kind remained alive. For now."

"You will regret this moment, _traitor_," Antellus hissed. "I will hunt you down like the dog you are and you will _beg_ the foul abominations you serve to save you from my wrath." The Iron Warrior sneered silently and started to turn away, and then paused before turning back to face him.

"You know," the Iron Warrior murmured, a cruel smile spreading across his face as he slowly drew his knife, "I did save your life… I'm sure you won't begrudge a little… _reward_."

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In mildly concussed silence, Shinji watched as Asuka flung the wrecked artefact through a nearby building and turned her attention back to the Angel, snatching a wrecked Chaos Land Raider from the road and started to beat Zeruel over the head with it.

_You have to admire her; even fighting alone she never gives up._

_Alone…_

Blinking, Shinji suddenly found himself waking from his stunned trance as, like a pilot light in an oven, the thought set fire to his mind

"Asuka!" Shinji shouted, forcing Unit 01 to it's feet, "Hold on, I'm coming!"

"About time, Baka," Asuka snarled, tossing the now very crumpled tank aside. "Have a nice na-waagh!"

Unit 02 flew backwards as Zeruel, apparently giving up on getting hold of her, blasted it's limbs into the road under it, throwing itself backwards off the road and landing on it's feet. Asuka, on the other hand, found herself with a less stable footing, stumbling backwards several steps before catching her balance.

Zeruel and Shinji moved at the same time, Shinji running straight far Asuka, barely slowing to snatch up his discarded weapons as he passed them, while the Angel went straight for distance, running directly down the street away from the two Evas.

As he got close, Shinji slowed and tossed the power blade to Asuka, who caught it one-handed, before spinning to bring the Plasma Pistol to bear on the Angel. Even as he did so, Zeruel stopped and turned, bringing it's limbs and core found to face them.

Both sides hesitated, waiting to see what the other would do. The stand off only lasted for a few seconds, before Zeruel's core lit up with energy…

…which discharged harmlessly into the ground as several explosions and a flurry of las-energies slammed into it's side.

Shinji glanced to the side in surprise, only to see a trio of Leman Russes and the Reaver Titan _Gladius Impereus_ advancing down the street, leading the late-arriving relief force towards the battling behemoths.

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Uryan watched from one of the Hab-blocks as the Necron forces tore apart between the twin fires of the Imperium and Chaos. A part of him tried to find signs of panic and fear that he had seen so many times before, but the rest of him knew that there was nothing so human within the Necrons, unlike the various human worlds that he had seen fall to the Iron Warriors. They simply fought, until they fell.

The last Monolith, blazing green fire in all directions, dropped as punishing fire from both a Havoc squad and one of the tanks moving ahead of the advancing force tore at it from both sides.

Turning from the spectacle, Uryan glanced at the sorcerer waiting ill at ease behind him.

"We are done here," he said, his previously unused voice still raw in his throat. "Cast your magics, we are leaving this world."

The twisted figure nodded, the tentacles growing from it's back twisting into archaic patterns. Turning away from the new Warsmith, the twisted Astartes began to chant quietly.

The temperature began to drop as daemonic intelligences turned their attention to the sorcerer. Arcane energies began to breach the barrier between the universes as they lent their inhuman might to the marine's will. Thin lightning began to flick off the Astartes' skin as the chanting began to take on an inhuman timbre.

The chanting grew to a crescendo, the sorceries growing to incredibly bright.

Then, a greenish-purple hole tore open in reality. In a flash, Uryan and his command staff were swallowed by the spell. A flare of energy, and it vanished without a trace.

Across the city, the Warp repeated the same process, plucking the Iron warriors and their slaves from the surface of the planet.

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He laid there, superhuman organs and warp-tainted implants straining to keep him alive.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of gold, and turned to face the creature that he knew would be there.

"What have you done," it hissed, grabbing the marine and lifting him by the neck, mangled intestines drooping all the way down to the floor.

"I… serve the Chaos Gods…" Honsou gasped, clutching impotently at the gold arm that held him up. "This was…inevitable."

"You were mine," the Deceiver growled, pulling the marine closer to his face.

"You…wanted a slave. You could…have controlled me like…a puppet. But that…wasn't enough for you…so you used pain to…control me, while…leaving me free will. A slave…to demonstrate to yourself…that you could master anything…even Chaos. You listened…to my words, and thought I submitted." He grinned, blood drooling from the broken gums. "You should…have watched the rest of me…more carefully…like say…_my hands_."

"That warrior of yours," the Deceiver mused, relaxing his grip slightly.

"Yes… All this time you thought I was yours…I was planning with him. My sacrifice will…defeat your plans, and see…that the _true_ masters of the universe…will have victory here."

The Deceiver stared at him for a second, before casually dropping him.

"A clever stratagem, I'll grant you," he said, before shrugging. "Ah well, I have no need for you now, and for defying me, you should receive some form of punishment." The Deceiver casually waved a hand over the prone Astartes.

The metal arm started to liquefying, flowing into his body. He began to convulse, tendrils of white flame seeming to slice through him. Areas of his exposed skin began to rise, before tearing as liquid metal spikes slowly pushed their way out, before slowing to a halt a couple of centimetres out.

There was a pause, broken only by Honsou's slow struggles.

Then he exploded, blood splattering over a full two-meter wide circle as the Necron metal tore him apart in a tangle of metal thorns.

The Deceiver turned away from the gory mess, waiting for the metal structure to collapse and return to liquid, flowing into his foot and taking on a gold sheen.

"A victory, yes," he said at last, his skin beginning flow into a new form, "but perhaps not the one you were thinking of."

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How do you defeat a twenty-stories tall, biomechanical monster apparently focused on the utter annihilation of your species?

The average citizen, of _any_ species or time period, has one simple answer; _run like hell_.

The United Nations and it's 'Top Secret' organization of Nerv had a different solution; send a trio of mentally… unique fourteen year old teenagers in a trio of ludicrously expensive bio-mechanical mecha with underlying scientific principles that could best be described as horrific.

The Imperium of Man…

A relentless hailstorm of firepower tore into the startled Angel. Not only was _Gladius Impereus_ and the Leman Russes firing, but the advancing Titan squadron was blasting away at a distance of several kilometres, using _Gladius Impereus_' sensorium to ensure accuracy.

The flickering grow of the Angel's A.T. Field was desperately trying to intercept as much firepower as possible, but the distant forces had spread out, so that no matter how the field moved, more then half of the attacks were bypassing it with ease, and most of the titan-grade weapons were tearing holes in the field and still hitting the monster.

Despite this, Zeruel was still up and moving; it had been the only Angel to survive a N2 detonation at point-blank range, _inside_ it's AT Field, with little evident effect. For all the fury of the weapons being directed at it, which _were_ tearing short-lived wounds in it, it was still standing.

This had been anticipated, however, with the Task-force shifting into familiar attack pattens. For all the power inherent in a Titan, and the subsequently large egos of their Princeps', Task-force Evangelion had had plenty of experience in fighting the Angel-derived weapons of Chaos, and had quickly learned that Titans were best used to suppress and distract their targets to allow the Evangelions to close in and prepare for the kill.

Shinji ducked down behind a hab-block, wincing at the deamon-like howl of the continual bombardment aimed at Zeruel. It was so intense, that the Evangelion was beginning to loose track of the Angel despite Yui's best efforts, the sensorium image beginning to stretch and distort from the energy weapons and shell detonations engulfing the monster.

_I think it's only a few dozen metres away,_ Yui whispered into Shinji's mind,_ It was moving but not too fast._

_Right,_ Shinji thought, nodding unconsciously, _lets try this…_

He leaned out from behind the building, firing a pair of plasma bursts in the direction of the hailstorm of fire…

…Which was closer then he thought. The incoming fire stopped, The Titans hesitant to fire with the Angel and the Eva so close together, while Zeruel spun as it sensed Unit 01's potshots.

It lashed out, the thin limb slashing into the Plasma pistol, cracking the protruding magnetic coil. Instinctively, Shinji tossed the hissing weapon at the Angel, the flare as it detonated nearly blinding him before the Eva's filters dimmed the image. Zeruel, however, had no such benefit, and flinched back for a second.

Seeing the Angel flinch, Shinji leaped forward, spinning round in a backward kick. The blow hit Zeruel with a stomach-wrenching jolt, forcing the dazed Angel back into a building.

Before the Angel could recover, Shinji grabbed it, pulling it into a classic judo hold. His hand, seeking a secure purchase, hooked into the holes in the eerie 'mask' that made up the Angel's face.

Thinking quickly, Shinji abandoned the hold, placed his foot against the Angel's chest and heaved, pulling back with all his might. Super-natural flesh resisted the immense strain for a few moments. And then, with a sickeningly organic tearing noise, Zeruel's face tore loose from his chest. A subsonic scream filled the air, bypassing the eardrums of onlookers and passing straight into the hind brain, spiking sudden intense feelings of fear.

Ignoring the unnatural dread, Shinji flipped around Zeruel, grabbing hold of the blinded Angel from behind as it's flesh started to boil, beginning to regenerate it's wounds.

"Asuka, now!" he shouted into his comm.

With a howl, Asuka jumped out from behind her own building, leaping forward and charging down the street with the speeds only an Evangelion could manage.

Even as she leaped, Zeruel's new face pushed it's way out of the Angel's flesh, just in time to see the power blade clutched in her hand flash forward.

"With a cracking sound, the crackling blade pierced the glowing green core.

Zeruel slumped, falling to it's knees as Shinji instinctively released it. It sagged, the razor-sharp arms spilling out onto the street.

Then it's flesh began to bubble.

It may have been years/millennia (depending on your point of view) since the end of the Angel Wars, but some instincts had been embedded too deeply into the two pilots for them to forget.

They pushed off, leaping back from the dying Angel.

Zeruel began to swell, the bubble-like bulges erupting from it's flesh beginning to merge together.

Both Evangelions hit the streets, instinctively throwing their arms up and forming the strongest A.T. fields they could.

Zeruel's features vanished beneath the growing bulges, the humanoid figure starting to look more spherical.

"It's going to blow!" Shinji and Asuka belatedly howled into the Vox. network, even as they tensed, hunching down to minimise target profile.

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And then, with an earth-shattering roar, Zeruel exploded.

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The shockwave erupted from the slumped figure, the nearest buildings simply tearing into fragments. The Leman Russ tanks accompanying _Gladius Impereus_ were thrown nearly a meter into the air, landing back on their treads with a thump had enough to break a dozen bones in every crew member and shatter their battle-hardened suspension. Every window within a dozen kilometres shattered, and even _Gladius Impereus_'s transparent-steel view ports developed cracks. Green lightning flared out, passing through A.T. fields, Void shields, armour and flesh with equal ease.

An immense, white energy cross, the pus-green energies of the Necrons threaded throughout its structure, rose above the city's hab-blocks and manufactoriums, bright enough to permanently blind everyone within a kilometre.

To be continued…

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**Sorcery;** To a casual observer, there is little difference between the Psychic talents of the Imperium's Sanctioned Psykers and the powers of Chaos sorcerers. Both use unnatural energies, often accompanied with dramatic flares of energy, to do something fundamentally perverse to the laws of Physics. There is a important distinction, however; Psykers may draw on the energies of the Warp, but their abilities are wholly their own, directed and powered by their own mind (or, in the case of Astropaths, the piece of the Emperor's soul that's bonded to them). Sorcery, on the other hand, uses the power and will of daemonic entities fed through the sorcerer into the real world. This often has a unnatural price the sorcerer must pay, usually after the sorcerer's death and far wosre then any of his worst fears.


End file.
